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You were curled up under a blanket with hot cocoa when The Doctor burst in, waving an envelope excitedly.
"Doctor?" "Hi! This is addressed to you. From you, future you specifically, which is exciting! I'm pretty sure my future self told everyone to write New Year cards to yourselves. Neat, right?"
Well, this is unexpected.
"Oh. Erm, yes. Very. Can I have it?"
She handed it over.
Hey me. Or more like, past me,
This feels weird, writing to my past self. But I want you to know the following: don't be so hard on yourself next year.
Everything falls into place eventually, I promise. Don't forget to show your loved ones you care, especially during the holidays. Especially The Doc.
I know we've had a few difficult adventures lately, but you should tell her how you feel.
Whether she feels the same doesn't matter. What matters, however, is living without regrets.
P.S. DON'T show The Doctor that very cute TikTok video of cute cats. She'll get inspired to visit a certain planet she once had been to (she doesn’t get into details until you’re at the planet).
Absolutely dreadful adventure. Yuck. 0/10.
Yours truly.
"Oh, what does it say? Can I look?" The Doctor reached for your card.
Shit, shit, shit.
"Um- no! Very... secret. And erm... childhood things! Nothing for you."
The Doctor's face turned into something disappointed, like when she got left out of interesting things.
"Oh. Right. Childhood things. Secret childhood things. Sounds very mysterious!" She rocked on her heels. "Not even a hint?"
You put the card back into the envelope. "Nope. It’s very boring, actually. Embarrassing stuff. You know... about a time I fell off of my bicycle. And my emo phase when I was fifteen."
"You fell off of a bike?" The Doctor deadpanned.
"Yep."
"Right." The Doctor didn't look convinced, but she was already getting distracted. "Well, if you're sure. I've got to check on the console anyway. It’s been making this weird humming noise, and something probably needs some kind of fixing-" She paused at the door, glancing back. "You alright? You look a bit... Red."
Oh no. Quick. Find a totally believable lie right now, you cursed at yourself. "Fine! Totally fine. Just the cocoa. Very hot cocoa. I should’ve waited before drinking."
The Doctor lingered another moment, something unreadable in her expression, before nodding. "Alright then. See you at dinner?"
You nodded your head. "Yes. See you later, Doc."
God help me, you’d thought, how on earth will I ever confess to her how I feel about her?
Apparently your future self is still in love with The Doctor. You’d made it sound so simple, "Everything falls into place eventually". But when, and how?
Were you supposed to just walk up to a centuries-old alien and say "hey, by the way, I think I really like you. As in, I like you more than a friend"?
That was in very poor taste, probably too direct.
Besides, The Doctor probably didn't even think of you that way. She’d often told you that you were such a great friend to her, that you made a brilliant companion. That’s all there was to this. You started to cringe as you imagined her friend-zoning you. And yet, something in you didn’t want to keep this from her anymore.
So you made a drastic decision: you had until New Years to figure something out.